La Rambla can be crowded, especially during the height of the tourist season. Its popularity with tourists has affected the character of the street, with a move to pavement cafes and souvenir kiosks. It has also suffered from the attention of pickpockets.[2]

The Spanish poet Federico García Lorca once said that La Rambla was "the only street in the world which I wish would never end."[3]

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La Rambla can be considered a series of shorter streets, each differently named, hence the plural form Les Rambles (the original Catalan form; in Spanish it is Las Ramblas). The street is successively called:[1][2]

Rambla dels Estudis - the site of the former Jesuit University, whose only remainder is the Church of Bethlehem

Rambla de Sant Josep (or de les Flors) - the site of an open-air flower market

Rambla dels Caputxins - the site of a former Capuchin monastery, now dominated by the Liceu opera-house

Rambla de Santa Mònica - named after the convent of St. Monica, now an arts centre.

To the north of La Rambla lies Plaça de Catalunya, a large square in central Barcelona that is generally considered to be both its city centre and the place where the old city and the 19th century-built Eixample meet.[1]

To the east of La Rambla is the Barri Gòtic or Gothic Quarter, the centre of the old city of Barcelona. The Barri Gòtic retains a labyrinthine street plan, with small squares and streets, many of which connect onto the Rambla. One of the larger of these squares is the Plaça Reial, a lively 19th century square with tall palm trees and street lamps designed by Antoni Gaudí, which opens down a short entrance passage off the Rambla dels Caputxins. Further into the Barri Gòtic can be found the Cathedral of Santa Eulàlia and the Plaça Sant Jaume that houses the buildings of the Generalitat of Catalonia and Barcelona’s City Council.[1]

To the west of La Rambla is the rather different El Raval quarter. Outside the city's earliest walls, this area was originally the site of various religious and medical institutions. Later factories grew up along with housing for the workers, whilst the proximity to the port led to the area becoming known for its nightlife and clubs, as well as prostitution and crime. Today the area still retains a degree of 'edge', but it also home to several important buildings, including Gaudí's Palau Güell, which is only a few steps down the Carrer Nou de la Rambla from the Rambla dels Caputxins.[1][4]

Extensions at either end of the Rambla also carry the name Rambla, but are not normally considered part of La Rambla itself. To the north, the Rambla de Catalunya extends into the Eixample district. To the south, construction of the Maremàgnum in the early 1990s resulted in a continuation of La Rambla on a wooden walkway into the harbour called the Rambla de Mar.[1]

Barcelona around 1700, showing La Rambla running down the centre flanked by the old city wall on its right.

The course of La Rambla was originally a sewage-filled stream,[5] usually dry but an important drain for the heavy rainwater flowing from the Collserola hills during spring and autumn. (Rambla, from the Arabic رمل "sand", is Catalan for "wadi". The name of the city of Ramla in Israel is derived from the same origin).[6]) It separated the walled city on its north-east bank from the settlements of El Raval ("the suburb") on its south-west.[7]

In the year 1377, construction started on an extension of the city walls to include La Rambla and El Raval. In 1440, the stream was diverted to run outside the new walls, and La Rambla gradually started turning into a street.[8]

Over the next few centuries, La Rambla became established as a centre of Barcelona city life, a long wide thoroughfare used for festivals, markets, and sports. Several large religious establishments were also built along the street during this period. These include the Jesuit Bethlehem monastery and college (1553), of which just the later church remains; the Carmelite St. Joseph's monastery, on the site of the current Boqueria market; and a Capuchin monastery at the lower end of the street.[8]

La Rambla in 1905

In 1703, the first of the trees lining La Rambla were planted.[8] They were 280 birch trees and later on those were replaced by elm trees. In 1832 some acacias were planted and the currently standing plane trees started to be the common tree from 1859.[9]

Various conflicts over recent centuries took their toll on La Rambla's religious buildings, most notably the St. James's Night riots in 1835 when revolutionaries burned the monasteries and churches and killed a number of friars;[10] and the Spanish Civil War in 1936-39, when Barcelona came under the control of anarchists who again targeted religious buildings and personnel, as well as being damaged by artillery and air attacks on the area from pro-Franco forces.

Until 2010, the Rambla dels Estudis was the site of an open-air market for caged birds and other small pets. However animal protection laws made it difficult for the market to continue. After years of fighting the legislation, the market was forced to close.[11]

The tree-lined central promenade of La Rambla is crowded during the day and until late in the night. Its origins as a watercourse are reflected in the paving design, which appears to ripple like water. Along the promenade's length are kiosks that sell newspapers and souvenirs, other kiosks selling flowers, street traders, performers, and pavement cafes and bars. Several notable sights are also located within the promenade, including a mosaic by Joan Miró and the Font de Canaletes, a fountain and popular meeting point.[1][13][14]

Along the Rambla are historic buildings as the Palace of the Virreina and the Liceu Theatre (Liceo in Spanish), in which operas and ballets are staged. The La Boqueria market opens off the Rambla and is one of the city's foremost tourist landmarks, housing a very diverse selection of goods.[1][13]

One of the side streets, only a few metres long, leads to the Royal Square (Plaça Reial), a plaza with palm trees and porticoed buildings containing many pubs and restaurants and in which stamp and coin collectors gather on the weekends.[1][15]

The most obvious transport mode on La Rambla is its heavy flow of pedestrians, who largely use the wide central pedestrianised area. This is flanked by two narrow service roads, which in turn are flanked by narrow pedestrian walkways in front of the buildings. Despite its length, no vehicular traffic is permitted to cross the central pedestrian walkway.[1]

Three Barcelona Bus lines operate along the service roads flanking La Rambla during the day (numbers 14, 59 and 91), whilst three different night time services also operate along La Rambla (numbers N9, N12 and N15).[21][22][23][24][25][26]

^Michael Eaude (12 October 2011). Catalonia - A Cultural History. Andrews UK Limited. p. 198. ISBN978-1-908493-25-5. From the Plaça de Catalunya, the Ramblas follows a slightly zigzag line, the contour of the sewage-filled medieval stream it was, down to the Columbus column and the sea.

Ciutat Vella

Ciutat Vella is a district of Barcelona, numbered District 1. The name means "old city" in Catalan and refers to the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Ciutat Vella is nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the neighborhood called l'Eixample. It is considered the centre of the city; the Plaça Catalunya is one of the most popular meeting points in all of Catalonia.

Gothic Quarter, Barcelona

The Gothic Quarter is the centre of the old city of Barcelona. It stretches from La Rambla to Via Laietana, and from the Mediterranean seafront to the Ronda de Sant Pere. It is a part of Ciutat Vella district.

El Raval

El Raval is a neighbourhood in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The area, especially the part closest to the old port, was also informally known as Barri Xinès or Barrio Chino, meaning "Chinatown". El Raval is one of the two historical neighborhoods that border La Rambla, the other being the Barri Gòtic, and contains some 50,000 people.

Avinguda Diagonal

Avinguda Diagonal is the name of one of Barcelona's broadest and most important avenues. It cuts the city in two, diagonally with respect to the grid pattern of the surrounding streets, hence the name.

Plaça de Catalunya

Plaça de Catalunya is a large square in central Barcelona that is generally considered to be both its city centre and the place where the old city and the 19th century-built Eixample meet.

Rambla de Catalunya

Rambla de Catalunya is a major street in the Eixample district of central Barcelona. It is one of the city's trendiest streets, with many international fashion shops, and is lined with lime trees.

Via Laietana

Via Laietana is a major thoroughfare in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in the Ciutat Vella district. The avenue runs from Plaça Urquinaona to Plaça d'Antonio López, by the seafront, and separates the neighbourhoods of the old city it has on either side: La Ribera/El Born and Sant Pere on one and Barri Gòtic on the other. Besides being always overcrowded with both locals and tourists attracted by its Modernista Art Nouveau, Art Déco, and Noucentista neo-classical architecture, in addition to its nearness to the Ramblas and the quiet pedestrian streets of Barri Gòtic, Via Laietana hosts the headquarters of a number of banks and institutions.

Carrer del Carme, Barcelona

Carrer del Carme is a street in central Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, located in the Raval neighbourhood of the Ciutat Vella district. It is part of the recently revamped commercial area of Raval. This street contains the main offices of Institut d'Estudis Catalans and Societat Catalana de Geografia, as well as the Catholic church Església de Betlem, built in the Baroque style, and the public library Biblioteca Sant Pau-Santa Creu, based in the former building of Hospital de la Santa Creu, which was moved to El Guinardó. The street is notable for being mentioned on the first page of Jean Genet's novel The Thief's Journal.

Plaça de Catalunya station

Plaça de Catalunya station, also known as Barcelona-Plaça Catalunya, Plaça Catalunya or simply Catalunya is a major station complex in Barcelona located under Plaça de Catalunya, the city's central square and a large transport hub. Many Rodalies de Catalunya, Barcelona Metro and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya lines go through it and many bus routes link it with all of the districts of the city and most of the municipalities in its metropolitan area.

Liceu (Barcelona Metro)

Liceu is a Barcelona Metro station situated under the La Rambla between Gran Teatre del Liceu and Mercat de la Boqueria in the Barri Gòtic, part of Barcelona's district of Ciutat Vella. It is served by TMB-operated Barcelona Metro line L3.

Drassanes (Barcelona Metro)

Drassanes is a Barcelona Metro station located underneath Portal de la Santa Madrona, just off La Rambla in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona. It is named after the nearby Drassanes Reials de Barcelona, the old shipyards that are now the home of the Museu Marítim de Barcelona. It is the closest station to the Port of Barcelona and one of the network's closest stations to the sea, and is served by TMB-operated Barcelona Metro line L3.

Barcelona–Vallès Line

The Barcelona–Vallès Line is an unconnected standard gauge railway line linking Barcelona with Sabadell and Terrassa via the Collserola mountain range, in Catalonia, Spain. Its name refers to the Catalan historical region of Vallès, whereby most part of the line runs. Plaça de Catalunya station serves as the Barcelona terminus of the line, where almost all its trains either start or terminate. The line then continues northwards and branches off twice before leaving the city limits. Its main route splits in two in Sant Cugat del Vallès, forming two major branches to Sabadell and Terrassa. It has 40 passenger stations in operation and a total line length of 48.1 kilometres (29.9 mi).

Plaça Reial

Plaça Reial is a square in the Barri Gòtic of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is close to La Rambla, and is a popular tourist attraction, especially at night. On the plaza are a large number of restaurants and some of the city's most famous nightclubs, including Sidecar, Jamboree, and Karma. The square is the site of the Hotel Roma Reial and is also known for its many outdoor venues. It is a popular meeting place during the summer, during the annual La Mercè festival in September when open-air concerts take place, and during other celebrations such as New Year's Eve.

Font de Canaletes

Font de Canaletes is an ornate fountain, crowned by a lamp post, in Barcelona, Catalonia, in Rambla de Canaletes, the upper part of La Rambla, near Plaça de Catalunya.

Transport in Badalona

Public transport in Badalona consists of a variety of services operated by several companies, most of them associated with Autoritat del Transport Metropolità, the main transport authority of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. At just over 220,000 inhabitants, Badalona is one of Catalonia's most populated towns, and is located immediately next to the capital Barcelona, along the Mediterranean sea coastline. It is both a dormitory town and a developed city in itself, which makes the proper articulation of transport of vital importance.

Virreina Palace

The Virreina Palace is a building in the city of Barcelona. Situated on the famous La Rambla avenue, today it houses the headquarters of the city council's Culture Institute and hosts various temporary art exhibitions and cultural events.

Outline of Barcelona

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Barcelona: